If you miss a shot, some coaches want you to try to grab the offensive rebound to set up another chance to score.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers has a different philosophy. He expects his players to get back on defense to prevent the other team from scoring.

“We have no problem with offensive rebounds,” Rivers insisted. “I have a bigger problem if you’re standing outside that paint and you go forward and don’t get it. Then you just gave up a bucket in our league.”

It should come as no surprise then that the Celtics are on pace to top last year’s team as the worst in offensive rebounds since the NBA began keeping the statistic in the 1973-74 season. This season, the Celtics have averaged 6.5 offensive rebounds and 35.8 total rebounds, and are getting outrebounded by six per game, all at the bottom of the NBA. To put the Celtics’ meager offensive rebound average in perspective, Dennis Rodman averaged 6.4 offensive rebounds by himself for Detroit in 1991-92.

According to basketballreference.com, the Celtics this season have grabbed only 16.9 percent of available offensive rebounds, the lowest percentage in the nearly 40 years the stat has been compiled. Last year’s Celtics ranked second worst, grabbing only 19.7 percent, and the 2010-11 Celtics ranked fourth worst with 21.1 percent.

In a loss to the Spurs Wednesday at the Garden, the Celtics grabbed only one offensive rebound — a tip-in by Brandon Bass with 1:28 left. Over the last 25 years, the Spurs are the only team not to have any offensive rebounds in a game.

Rivers isn’t bothered by his team’s lack of offensive boards.

“You’re a big believer in offensive rebounds, I think,” he told a reporter who asked him about it. “I’m not. Listen, like I said, you can pick on that all you want. That is a number I rarely look at, is offensive rebounds. Statistically, it holds up. I can tell you, you don’t offensive rebound, you stop transition, you win more games than when you get offensive rebounds. I can guarantee you that on those stats.”

That may be true, but when Celtics beat the Thunder Friday, they grabbed eight offensive boards, one of their highest totals of the season.

Last year and the year before, the Celtics overcame their rebounding woes by playing tough defense. They allowed the lowest field goal percentage in the league both years and the second fewest points last year and the fewest the year before. This year, they allow the 12th most points and the fourth highest field goal percentage.

All of the Celtics’ offensive rebounding woes can’t be blamed on Rivers’ coaching style.

“If they’re outside the paint, we want them getting back,” Rivers said. “If you’re in the paint, you should always go to the basket.”

Most of the Celtics’ big men, however, simply aren’t very good at grabbing their teammates’ misses. Bass leads the team with 1.8 offensive boards per game, and rookie Jared Sullinger is second with 1.3 a game. They’re the only two Celtics who average at least one a game. Kevin Garnett averages only 0.8. Rivers said that offensive rebounding can be taught, but only to a certain extent.

“Either you’re good at it or you’re not,” he explained.

In other words, it’s instinctive. So Rivers would rather concentrate on improving the team’s defense.

With Garnett switching to center and no true power forward to take his old spot, the Celtics have gone with a smaller lineup, and rebounding as a whole has become an even larger problem than usual. Detroit ranked next to last in rebounding before outrebounding the Celtics, 39-30, in a 103-83 Boston loss last Sunday.

Garnett leads the team with 7.2 rebounds a game, which would be the lowest average to lead the Celtics since Paul Pierce’s 6.7 topped the Green in 2005-06. Pierce is second this season with 5.4 and failed to grab any rebounds Wednesday. Bass is third with 5.2. Chris Wilcox, the largest Celtic off the bench, averages only 2.2 rebounds. Jeff Green averages just 2.8.

Before Wednesday’s game, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich called his team “older than dirt,” and the Spurs have not rebounded well this season either, but they outrebounded Boston, 41-25. Tim Duncan grabbed 15 rebounds, three more than the Celtics’ starting five.

Rivers is correct when he says defense has been the No. 1 problem for the Celtics this season, but rebounding is a close second. You can’t score if you can’t get the ball.

Elusive MVPKevin Durant has won three NBA scoring titles, and LeBron James has captured three NBA Most Valuable Player awards. So what does the Oklahoma City forward have to do to unseat James as the MVP?

“I don’t think he’s looking at that,” OKC coach Scott Brooks said. “Just being around him like I have for the last six years, that’s not in his mind. If he gets it, great.”

Actually, it is in Durant’s mind, but way in the back of it.

“Of course,” he said, “every player would like to be MVP, but this is all about me getting better every single day. We’ll see what happens.”

Durant is scoring a little less than usual this season. Entering last night, his 25.7-point average ranked second in the league to Kobe Bryant’s 27.5, but he was averaging career highs in rebounds (9.5), assists (4.5), steals (1.8), blocks (1.2), field goal percentage (49.3) and 3-point percentage (44.4). James trailed Durant in scoring (24.8), rebounds (9.1), steals (0.9) and blocks (1.0), but he led in assists (6.6) and field goal percentage (52.4). They were tied in 3-point percentage.

“They’re both great, great players, dynamic players, stat fillers,” Brooks said. “Kevin just has to keep playing. Most importantly, and Kevin will say this, we just have to keep winning. It’s about winning for Kevin. If we really wanted to and he really wanted to, he could score 35 a night, but he’s about winning the game and doing whatever it takes to continue to improve.”

The biggest difference has been on defense. James has made the first-team All-Defensive team in each of the past four years, and while Durant has improved on defense, he has never made the first or second team.

Most important of all, James and Miami beat Durant and the Thunder in the NBA Finals last year.

Crunch time at the line
When Pierce missed a couple of free throws late in a loss at Brooklyn a couple of weeks ago, the Celtics shouldn’t have been shocked. Pierce has always been a very good foul shooter, but not always late in games.

The previous five years, the Celtics tried to force opponents to foul Ray Allen down the stretch because he’s one of the league’s all-time best foul shooters. Allen uncharacteristically missed a few free throws in the playoffs last season when he was playing on a sore ankle, but until then, he was about as close to automatic at the line as you could get.

Allen used to take the technical foul shots, but now that he’s in Miami, the Celtics have turned to Pierce and Jason Terry to take them. Pierce is shooting 86.6 percent from the line this year, and he has shot 80.8 percent for his career. Terry is shooting 86.2 percent this year, and he has shot 84.6 percent for his career.

They should consider Bass as well. Bass is shooting a team-high 89.3 percent, and he has shot 82.5 percent for his career. Bass has never been called upon to be the designated foul shooter during crunch time, but pressure hasn’t bothered his foul shooting in the past. Pressure is at its highest in the playoffs, and he has been a 92.1 percent foul shooter in the postseason.

Allen, by the way, is shooting only 84.2 percent from the line for Miami for his lowest percentage since his rookie year of 1996-97.

You don’t want to foul Durant at the Garden. The Oklahoma City forward made all eight of his free throws Friday against the Celtics, and in the five games he has played at the Garden in his career, he’s 41 of 41 at the line.